Press Release
Hizb ut-Tahrir Wilayah Pakistan condemns government's forceful prevention of 31 May 2009 rallies

We condemn the government decision to forcibly prevent the party from holding rallies against "America's war which makes Muslims fight Muslims." Hizb ut-Tahrir Wilayah Pakistan had initiated the campaign to denounce America's war which is using the Muslim soldiers as a fuel for Obama's failing crusade in Afghanistan and spreading chaos and instability.

The government sent hundreds of police and intelligence, armed with tear gas and batons, to prevent the people from gathering at the venue for peaceful protest. The government beat Hizb activists and participants of the rally and arrested more than 30 people from Lahore, Karachi and Rawalpindi. As Hizb ut-Tahrir is a non-violent political organisation and the method it employs has no room for militancy, therefore Hizb, instead of responding to a brick with a rock, opted itself principled stance of non-violence and dispersed peacefully. Moreover, unlike the other political parties, we do not believe in ransacking and damaging the public and private properties as violence or militancy is not included in the Shar'i method for the reestablishment of the Islamic State.  We inquire, are these the "tolerant values" of democracy where people are arrested even for peacefully raising their voice against the unjust acts of the government? Indeed it has been proven without doubt that democracy and dictatorship is one and the same thing! People have realised that in service to the colonialists both democracy and dictatorship are equal.  

The government has shown yet again it cares nothing for the welfare of the people, rather it shows a willingness to use brute force against them. This is little surprise when one considers that the government waged war on its own people in Swat for the sake of America, spilling the blood of our sons in the Pakistan Army to please Obama and destroying the lives of over two million of Pakistan's citizens.

The government is carrying out repression against Hizb ut-Tahrir for exposing America and its agents within the government. The government has become afraid of the party's truthful stance and is hoping to silence the party. By preventing Hizb ut-Tahrir from holding its rally today, the government has once again proven that it is working to save the colonialist interests.

Hizb ut-Tahrir Wilayah Pakistan will continue its campaign of open invitation for the masses in general, and the political parties and the ulema in particular, to raise their voice against this heinous crime against the Muslims and Islam.

Hizb ut-Tahrir Wilayah Pakistan repeats its demands that:

• 1. America's war is immediately stopped and our sons in the Pakistan Army are no longer used as fuel for Obama's failing crusade.
• 2. All American presence, military, political and intelligence, is uprooted from the country for it is the cause of the continuous turmoil and chaos that the country has faced since America launched its crusade.
• 3. The army must disobey those treacherous commanders who order them to kill their brothers, and give the Nussrah to Hizb ut-Tahrir to establish the Khilafah "Caliphate" and liberate Afghanistan from the American occupation as well as Kashmir from the polytheist state of Hindus.

Naveed Butt
The Official Spokesman of Hizb ut-Tahrir in Pakistan